Dr. Freddie Haynes

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Less than a year after the fanfare announcement that he will succeed the Rev. Jesse Jackson as leader of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III announced his resignation this week amid what insiders described as a painful financial situation.

Few details were available at Trice Edney News Wire deadline, but according to Dr. Haynes' April 16 statement titled, “Public Resignation Statement,” he said the following as he resigned from the organization that announced him as Jackson’s successor last July and formally installed him Feb. 1.  

“After continued prayer and deliberation, I have decided to step down from the position of Chief Executive Officer and President of Rainbow Push Coalition (RPC), effective immediately. I remain committed to honoring the rich history of RPC and the legacy of its esteemed leader, the incomparable Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., and, most significantly, to the calling and pursuit of social justice. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all who have expressed their support since my appointment in July of last year. Rest assured that my work in the fight for liberation and freedom continues. Yours in the struggle, Frederick D. Haynes III”

Rev. Jackson, who has been ill with Parkinson's disease, could not be reached for comment by deadline. Sources close to RPC said the organization has been stricken with insurmountable financial problems.

Dr. Haynes, a protege of Rev. Jackson's, still serves as the Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas.

On its website, RPC describes itself by saying, “We protect, defend, and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields, and to promote peace and justice around the world.”

According to its written history, The Chicago-based organization, founded in 1971, “is the product of a social justice movement that grew out of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) Operation Breadbasket. Founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Operation Breadbasket sought to combine theology and social justice and to effect progressive economic, educational, and social policy in America. In 1966, Dr. King appointed Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. to serve as the first director of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago.”

According to a news release, Haynes’ sold-out installation event on Feb. 1 this year, “featured VIP program participants and attendees from all over the country, including Roland Martin, Rev. Al Sharpton (NAN), Shavonne Arline-Bradley (NCNW), Dr. Michael Sorrell, Dr. Amos Brown, and Dr. Ron Daniels.”

Rev. Sharpton who was keynote at the event, said in his speech, "Look at the time we are in: everything that was gained in the '60s is now under threat...They talk about affirmative action, women's rights, diversity, inclusion, voting rights, like somebody woke up and gave us that. Nobody donated anything to us. We fought for everything we got and we need to get back to fighting right now. And that's why I've come to celebrate Freddy, because we need fighters in the pulpit… We need a fighter like Freddy Haynes."

Vice President Kamala Harris, a long time associate of Haynes' who was at the Rainbow/PUSH convention where Haynes was announced last July, said, “I am so confident in his leadership and his ability to carry on the greatest traditions of this organization and to meet the challenges of this moment.”

April 23, 2024

Black Women's Roundtable Convenor Melanie Campbell was one of the panelists who told an audience of 200 that America is in an emergency. Others pictured are Barbara Arnwine of the Transformative Justice Coalition and Janice Mathis of the National Council of Negro Women. PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire.

2024 Stateswomen panel gathered before the luncheon preparing to discuss the theme, "America in Emergency." Pictured L-R are: Dr. Barbara Reynolds, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Hazel Trice Edney, Barbara Arnwine, Janice Mathis, Melanie Campbell and Symone Campbell. PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Black women leaders of national civil rights and voting rights organizations have gathered at the National Press Club in Washington DC to declare “America in Emergency,” at a time when conservative lawmakers continued to dismantle decades of Civil Rights gains.

In several Southern states, certain books by Black authors have been banned; diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are being eliminated, and judges appointed by former President Donald Trump continue to gut Voting Rights laws.

“It is unbelievable what is happening in Florida,” said former U.S. Rep Corine Brown (D-Flo.) who served in Congress for 26 years. “You can't teach diversity in Florida; we have a million people [taken off the rolls] who can’t vote. What can you do?”

Brown, speaking from the audience during the town hall portion of the annual Stateswomen for Justice Luncheon, was recognized by Dr. Julianne Malveaux, an economist, author, and former President of Bennett College for Women, who moderated this year’s event in celebration of Women’s History Month and the 197^th anniversary of the Black Press.

Veteran Journalist Hazel Trice Edney, president/CEO of Trice Edney Communications and Editor-in-chief of the Trice Edney News Wire, has hosted the event that has taken place for the last 12 years at the National Press Club.

Malveaux said the time couldn't be more urgent. “What do we do in an emergency ?” Malveaux asked the audience of 200 women and men. “Sometimes we call 9-11, But then we react. We have to vote like it's an emergency.”

Rev. Benjamin Chavis, a veteran Civil Rights activist and president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, implied that Black people have always risen to the occasion when attacked with injustices.

“We have been in emergencies before for 500 years,” said Chavis. “The transatlantic slave trade was an emergency, But God has blessed us. We are not a cursed people; we are a blessed people.”

Melanie Campbell, President/CEO of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation and convenor of the Black Women’s Roundtable, said,” It is time for us to take action because It is clear that the attack on Black people has a laser focus on the attack against Black women.”

Campbell added, “We will not allow them to divide us. We have to own our collective power. They are real serious about erasing our history.”

Barbara Arnwine, the President/CEO of the Transformative Justice Coalition, talked about a lynching in Brunswick, Georgia, and said, “When they kill our children, murder them for just being Black, after all this, folks, we have work to do!”

Arnwine was referring to the fact that lawyers representing the three white men who ran down and killed Ahmaud Arbery as he jogged have asked the US Court of Appeals to throw out the case.

“Folks, there is nothing we can say right now,” Arnwine said. “We have to first fight for our young people.”

Former USA Today columnist Dr. Barbara Reynolds held a book-signing and book launch in connection with the luncheon, presenting copies of her new book, “The Rise and Fall of the Techno-Messiah: Technology and the End Times.” The book issues a warning of how artificial intelligence is dangerous, eliminating jobs and it messages that some believe it could try to take the place of God.

“We will not be replaced; we will not be reduced,” Reynolds, an ordained minister, told the gathering.

Dr. Symone Campbell, a technology and artificial intelligence expert from Howard University gave warnings of how to recognize when misinformation is at work; especially during election time. She told the audience to look out for “repetitive language; distorted body parts such as hands, teeth, hair and face; audio not matching images or no images shown.”

Bishop George Holmes gave the benediction, encouraging the women to be thermostats instead of thermometers “because thermostats set the tone” in life instead of simply recording the temperature.

April 7, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Each spring, many aspiring students and their families begin receiving college acceptance letters and offers of financial aid packages. This year’s college decisions will add yet another consideration: the effects of a 2023 Supreme Court, 6-3 ruling that ended the use of affirmative action. No longer can race be considered as one of many other factors to reach college admissions decisions.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said in part, “In these cases we consider whether the admissions systems used by Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, two of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States, are lawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. These cases involve whether a university may make admissions decisions that turn on an applicant’s race.”

“[T]he Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause,” continued the Chief Justice. “Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today.”

A strongly-worded dissenting opinion by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, challenged the majority, asserting that affirmative action remains both viable and necessary.  

“This limited use of race has helped equalize educational opportunities for all students of every race and background and has improved racial diversity on college campuses,” wrote Justice Sotomayor. “Although progress has been slow and imperfect, race-conscious college admissions policies have advanced the Constitution’s guarantee of equality and have promoted Brown’s vision of a Nation with more inclusive schools.”

“The Court subverts the constitutional guarantee of equal protection by further entrenching racial inequality in education, the very foundation of our democratic government and pluralistic society. Because the Court’s opinion is not grounded in law or fact and contravenes the vision of equality embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment, I dissent,” concluded Sotomayor.

In the aftermath of this consequential decision, as many as 30 states have now either filed or enacted new laws against teaching Black history or ‘other divisive concepts’, as well as defunding or outright ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Counted among these states are Alabama, Florida, and Texas where multi-million Black residents are directly affected.

While many might presume widespread unity in Black America over the Supreme Court ruling, a survey analysis by Gallup’s Center on Black Voices published earlier this year shows a distinct and disturbing generational divide on affirmative action. Survey respondents were asked about the effect the affirmative decision may have in four specific areas:

1.       Higher education in general; 

2.      Educational opportunities for Blacks;

3.      The ability of people of one’s own race/ethnicity to attend college; and

4.      Diversity of college campuses.

Numerically, 56 percent of Black adults aged 40 and older mostly view the decision negatively.   But among younger Black adults, aged 18 to 39, the affirmative action reversal is viewed positively by 62 percent. Moreover, many younger Blacks anticipated the decision will have no impact at all on their educations and futures.

Another new and related survey reflects a growing political divide.

Jointly released by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the survey asked the question, “Do you think each of the following is doing a good job or a bad job or neither upholding democratic values in the United States?”

Respondents were asked to share their views on government – including the Supreme Court, as well as Congress, and presidential candidates. Overall, 45 percent said the nation’s highest court was doing a poor job. But when responses were screened by party affiliation, 68 percent of Democrats said the court was doing a poor job, compared to 21 percent of Republicans agreeing.

A coalition of 12 national civil rights advocates including the National Urban League, National Action Network, NAACP, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the National Council of Negro Women, also said  the nation’s highest court is the problem when it comes to affirmative action, saying its decision,   “serves as a distressing reminder of the uphill battle we continue to face in dismantling systemic racism and the potential implications this decision can have on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the workplace.”

Whatever solution(s) are needed, one thing remains clear: America’s constitution may have promised that all are created equal; but in education, the fulfillment of that promise has yet to become real.

Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at CharleneThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..